Some gasoline filling stations are constructed so that the fuel dispensers (often referred to as gas pumps) and the people using such dispensers are exposed to the elements. Any one who has pumped gasoline in a rainstorm knows how unpleasant this can be.
At least because of the transition from full service to self service, more-informed filling station construction includes a broad canopy over the pumps and the drive area on which the vehicle is parked for fueling. And designers and owners of such stations have long realized that sales are improved if the station looks "inviting" and offers fine visibility while the vehicle is being fueled. Good canopy lights are indispensible to those purposes.
Preferably, a canopy light illuminates both the vehicle being fueled and the pump from which fuel is being dispensed. Certainly the latter is important, given the fact that modern fuel dispensers require a customer to select, in proper sequence, a number of buttons indicating payment preference, payment location, and octane of fuel to be pumped.
The luminaire lens and mounting frame disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 375,379 (DiCola et al.) is understood to be used as a canopy light. While such light is generally satisfactory for the purpose, it is not without disadvantages.
One is that the downwardly-extending prismatic lens and the placement of the lamp with respect to such lens causes the light to exhibit what is perceived as significant "glare." That is, light beams shine directly into the eyes of a motorist entering the station. At the least, glare is disconcerting and for some human vision conditions, glare can modestly impair one's ability to see.
And that is not all. The DiCola et al. light holds a lamp in a downwardly-extending direction and does so using a lamp socket extending upwardly above the reflector and significantly above the lens. A box above the reflector contains the ballast components and has a hole through one box wall which fits around the lamp socket. Seemingly, one must gain access to the top of the light in order to service the ballast components.
The DiCola et al. light has two hooks at the frame for supporting the lens-ring-and-lens assembly on rods when such assembly is swung downwardly for re-lamping. It is understood that the rods and hooks are configured in a way that permits lifting off the assembly for any angular position thereof.
A new canopy light which addresses these concerns would be an important advance in the art.